Catching The Flame
by XS Fanatic
Summary: Sequel to "Chasing The Wind." Rai and Kim go through some obstacles including families, an ex-boyfriend, and untold secrets. READ ALL AUTHOR'S NOTES! RATING FOR SAFETY!
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Hello children of… uh… whoever your parents are! I'm BACK! And, due to popular demand, I'm continuing the story of ****Chasing The Wind****! **

**XS Ppl: *cheer***

**PJatO/PA Ppl: Why are we here again?**

**Me: *shrugs* I like having others here for moral support. Anyway… First, I'd like to apologize to all of you who have wanted me to continue ****Decisions****, and ****The Lightning Thief.**** I've been trying SOOO hard to get them updated, but, FFN won't let me update them through the site! Second, I'm gonna shut up so that you guys can all get to reading my long-awaited sequel!**

**RAI'S P.O.V.**

A chill went down his spine. His heart rate increased hauntingly to ten-fold. He felt his dark chocolate-brown hair stand on end, and there was fear in his jade-green eyes. He let out a fearful yip, not unlike that of a small Chihuahua, and his tan skin paled as he replied, "No."

"Raimundo, please…"

The young Shoku Warrior shook his head defiantly. "No. Absolutely not."

"Rai—" The petite Japanese girl with her aquamarine-blue eyes was once again cut off.

"No, Kimiko! Look, I have my reasons, okay? It has nothing to do with you, I swear…" Raimundo attempted to talk in a kind tone, so as to maybe, hopefully, keep Kimiko from asking again.

Her eyes started to fill with tears. Those big, blue, beautiful…

He stopped. Was she doing this on purpose? Yes. Was it catching Raimundo between a rock and a hard place? Definitely. Did he hate seeing her like this, especially considering the fact that her big blue eyes were irresistible? Absolutely. Had she asked him for anything else that could ever amount to this? No. Was he going to cave and give in to the request of the girl that he's liked since day one and finally had the guts to ask her out a month ago, just to keep himself from having to look at the puppy-dog face for the NEXT month? You betcha.

Raimundo sighed. "Okay, okay! You win! Just stop it with the face! You KNOW that I can't say no to that face!" He complained, feeling relief wash over him as a smile spread across his girlfriend's face.

"Really?" Kimiko asked.

Raimundo once again sighed. I know that most of you are wondering what she's trying to get him to do. No, it's not joining a stupid club with her, and no, she's not trying to seduce him. It was:

"Yes. I'll take you to Brazil tomorrow to meet my family."

Kimiko once again smiled and gave Raimundo a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Rai. And, I'm sure that It'll be fine," she said, walking back to her own cubicle.

Raimundo sighed and began to pack. _'Mortification Station, now boarding.'_

And with that pleasant thought, the young Dragon of the Wind placed his teddy bear- I mean good luck charm, Ninja Fred, into his suitcase, bracing himself for the moment of truth that his family induced humiliation will bring from Kimiko: Stay or Leave.

**YAY! And, sorry for the short chappie, but, I'm working as I go. Besides, I'm busy with other stuff, like, my drawing of Nico for chuckleberry, my Percabeth fic, my Mider fic, fixing my problems with ****Decisions****, and ****The Lightning Thief****, and writing chapter two of my book, so, cut me some slack. NO FLAMES UNLESS YOU WANT THEM TO BE PART OF YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM! Anyway, please be kind with your reviews, and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcome with open arms!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody! I'd like to thank my reviewers:**

**XSrules95: **Thanks! I'm Glad I got around to this, considering I've been having requests for this story!

**IJ: **Thanks!

**blueheron93: **Thank you so much! And, I'll try to make this longer! X3

**Luiz4200:**I haven't heard from you in forever! And, you'll be meeting Rai's family this chappie! WARNING: THIS CHAPTER MAY CAUSE INTERNAL PAIN TO THE RIBS DUE TO RAIMUNDO'S INSANE FAMILY.

**Disclaimer: I am NOT Christy Hui! No matter how much I wish I could be... :( **

* * *

**KIM'S P.O.V.**

Kimiko dragged her suitcase out to the Silver Manta Ray blowing a strand of her raven-black hair out of her face. The suitcase wasn't really heavy (not to her anyway) but, she was feeling pretty tired. Raimundo had kept her up until ten o'clock insisting that they had to leave right THEN so that they'd be in Brazil at noon in Rio (I checked, and I just went with the time difference between Hong Kong and Rio which is ten hours), but, being the WONDERFUL boyfriend to her that he is, he promised to let her sleep on the way to Rio. She asked about him, but he said that he'd be perfectly fine since he'd slept-in 'til noon that day.

"Kimi, need some help?" Raimundo asked, apparantly taking her dragging her suitcase as a sign that it was heavy.

She smiled at him and replied, "I'm fine Rai, really."

He gave her his classic smirk and said to her, "Yeeeeaaaaahhh, Kim." His look then softened and he continued in a kinder and more serious tone, "I'd just rather you not pass out until you're in the passenger seat, Kim. Just let me help. Please?"

She sighed, but couldn't help but smile. "Alright." She handed the suitcase to him and thought to herself, _'I guess I should just be happy that I'm the only one that brings out this side of him. I don't know WHY I am, but, I am.'_

Raimundo grunted as he took the suitcase when something seemed to dawn on him and he looked at Kimiko with a playful glare and asked, "You packed your electronics in here, didn't you?" He knew her all to well.

She blushed, a large sweatdrop appearing above her head like in cartoons and replied, "I grew up with electronics, and I'm not going to leave them behind now."

Raimundo smiled and couldn't help but give a laugh. "I wouldn't expect you to. And, I wouldn't WANT you to," he said still smiling and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before putting both of their suitcases in the trunk of the Silver Manta Ray.

Kimiko smiled as she thought about HIS smile. The smile that he reserved just for her. He has ever since day one. He'd have his annoying grin, and his cocky smirk, but before they started dating a month ago, she'd only seen him give his REAL smiles few and far between, and only when it was just the two of them. Ever since they started going out though, even Clay and Omi have admitted twice that they've caught small glimpses of a real smile from him. But, of course, he purposely saved his smile just for HER, not to mention he smiled more often now that they were going out. AND she finally gets to meet his family. She smiled to herself as she climbed into the passenger seat, thinking about how great of a day it would be as she fell asleep.

* * *

**NORMAL P.O.V.**

"Kimi, wake up," Raimundo said gently, touching his girlfriend's cheek with a soft hand.

"Hmm?" Kimiko cracked an eye open, closing it again quickly from the sudden sunlight in her eyes.

"We're here," Raimundo said with a smile. "Welcome to Rio de Janiero!"

Kimiko smiled at his joyful tone of voice, and stretched as best she could in her seat as they landed. As Raimundo helped her out of the Silver Manta Ray, Kimiko noticed that they'd landed in front of an absolutely HUGE building that looked like one of those seven story hotels with about a hundred rooms on each floor. The building itself looked like it was abandoned years ago, but the sounds coming from the inside showed that it was occupied.

"Uh, Rai?" She asked as he got the suitcases out of the trunk of the flying Shen-Gong-Wu.

"Yeah?"

"Um, what's with the huge building?"

Raimundo smirked as he replied, "Welcome to Casa de Pedrosa."

Kimiko nearly jaw-dropped. "THIS is your house? Rai, it's practically-"

"A hotel? Yeah, I know. It used to BE a hotel, before my family bought and renovated it."

"But... WHY? Why not just get a regular big house?"

Raimundo laughed at this. "Kimiko, my family consists of about three-hundred people, still counting."

This time, she DID jaw-drop. "I thought you said that you only had EIGHT siblings along with you and your parents."

"I do," he said. "But, I ALSO have about eight aunts and eight uncles, each of THEIR various children, some of their CHILDREN'S children, my DAD'S cousins and second cousins, my two sister-in-laws that're married to two of my brothers, another brother's fiancee, two of my SISTER'S fiancee's, and MY various neices and nephews."

It took about five minutes for Kimiko to process this. "Dear DASHI, Raimundo... why do you all-"

"It's what we do. Unlike most other cultures, here in Brazil we live with our WHOLE families most of the time, including distant relatives. Not to mention, you know that I come from a circus family."

"True." She did know. It had come up one day while the two of them were sitting at the fountain in the court-yard, when Kim had FINALLY convinced him to tell her something about his family:

_(FLASHBACK)_

_Raimundo sighed. "Alright, alright. What do you wanna know? And, you only get ONE question," he'd said with a smirk._

_Kimiko thought about this. If she only got one question, she wanted it to be good. "What do they do for a living?"_

_Raimundo blushed at this. "Uh... Well..."_

_"Yes?"_

_"Promise not to laugh," he'd said, blushing furiously._

_Kimiko nodded. "Okay, I promise that I won't laugh. I swear on my honor as the dragon of fire," she said with a smile._

_Raimundo softened slightly and also smiled. "They, uh... Well, they run a circus."_

_(END OF FLASHBACK)_

The two dragons walked up the driveway, each carrying their own suitcase in one hand, and holding the other's hand with their free one.

As they arrived at the door, Raimundo dropped Kimiko's hand and brought his fist up as if to knock on the door, when he stopped and said, "Wait, what am I DOING? This is my HOUSE!" He then opened the door, the noise becoming more prominent as he led her through the doorway, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "MES FAMILIA! I'M HOME!"

There was a brief moment of, what Kimiko guessed to be rare, silence before people started murmuring Raimundo's name with disbelief and happiness, and a few small children popped up from behind support-beams, stairways, even from one of the ceiling-lights (don't ask), and there was a happy chorus of, "RAIMUNDO," as cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. basically... well... GLOMPED Raimundo in a sea of happy.

After many greetings from his family, Raimundo introduced Kimiko to his family as his girlfriend.

A woman with Raimundo's tan skin and dark-brown hair, along with chestnut-brown eyes that was also half a head shorter than Raimundo, smiled and said, "Oh, mes bebe!" She hugged him. "I'm so happy to hear that you have a girlfriend!"

Raimundo blushed deeply. "Mom!"

The woman, whom Kimiko now knew as his mother, also blushed, as if just realizing that she was making a bigger-than-necessary scene and unintentionally embarrassing her son. "Sorry sweetheart." Kimiko took notice of his mother's slightly-rounded belly, and took a guess.

Raimundo also noticed this bulge and his eyes widened. "Mom? Are you...?"

Raimundo's mother smiled and said, "Yes. You're going to be a big brother."

He smiled hugely and hugged his mom. "Mom! Why didn't you tell me in your letters? This is GREAT!"

His mother seemed about to answer, but then Kimiko heard a girl's voice shout, "Raimundo!"

A girl about the same height as her, with Raimundo's tan skin and brown hair- except for the streak of blonde in her bangs- tied up in a pony-tail, and eyes that must've been hazel, because they had a purplish tint to them, came up and hugged him.

Raimundo winced as the girl hugged him tightly, and said, almost gasping for breath, "Liz... I love you too, big sis, but... you're, uh... kind of crushing my ribs."

His sister, Liz, let go and gave an all-too-Raimundo-esque-smirk and said, "Sorry, little bro," and stood on tiptoe to ruffle his hair. Kimiko found it a bit difficult to keep from laughing at this act.

Raimundo sighed and said, "Kim, this is my big, well, OLDER," smirking at his shorter sister, "sister, Liz."

Liz rolled her eyes, and stuck out a hand to shake. "Eliza Pedrosa, named after our mom. But, just call me Liz, please."

Kimiko shook her hand and was about to answer, when she heard several loud thumps coming down the stairs which sounded like army tanks and Raimundo paled. "No..."

Three guys that looked exactly like Raimundo except older and with brown eyes, and one pale-ish kid that had the same brown eyes and hair so dark-brown that it was almost black, came down the stairs.

"Hello," sang the first tan one in a low voice.

"Hello," repeated the next tan one in a slightly higher singing voice.

"Hello," sang the last tan one in another slightly higher tune.

"Hi," said the pale one in just a regular talking voice, looking kind of bored.

The other three face-palmed and said in unison, "Aw, Pedro, ya killed it!"

The pale kid, Pedro, shrugged, and said, "What? You guys know that I can't sing that high."

Raimundo pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation and said, "Uh, Kim? These are my anoying older bro-" but he never finished his sentence as the three tan ones started passing poor Raimundo around and giving him noogies as they did so, and shouted, "NOOGIE RING!"

"Gah! Guys! GUYS!" Raimundo shouted, trying to get them to listen, but to no avail.

"We're his brothers," said the tallest one as he passed Raimundo along. "I'm the oldest, Brock."

As the second tallest passed Raimundo to the next, he said, "Second oldest; Name's Bruno."

The third one passed him back to Brock and said, "Third! Rico!"

They then passed Raimundo into the direction of Liz, Kimiko, and Pedro, as Raimundo shouted, "MOM!"

There was a flash of color and, suddenly, Eliza, Raimundo's mom, had a hold of one ear on each of the three brothers and Rico, Bruno and Brock shouted with a bit of fear, "Oh no! Mom-jitsu!" And with that, Raimundo's mother dragged them out of the room.

* * *

**Okay, so, I didn't introduce his WHOLE family, but, trust me, you don't want me to. Anyway, hope this is enough to keep you guys hppy for now! R&R PLEASE!**


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